Owner Elsa Lekovic, her daughter and newborn grandchild

By Jon Show — A taste of the Mediterranean will arrive today in downtown Cornelius with the opening of Pure Olive, a specialty shop offering premium extra virgin olive oils, aged balsamic vinegars and gourmet pantry items.

Owner Elsa Lekovic is opening the store after spending about a year and a half selling her products at Charlotte-area pop-up markets while searching for a permanent home. She is hosting a grand opening event today from 4 to 7 p.m.

Lekovic, her husband and their six children relocated from upstate New York to Cornelius in 2024 after vacationing in the Lake Norman area and deciding they were ready for a change. After leaving a career in Information Technology a decade ago to homeschool her children, she began exploring the idea of opening an olive oil shop.

A longtime friend who owns successful olive oil stores in New York became her mentor, helping her learn the business. The Pure Olive name and brand are entirely her own, with some help from a friend who helped design the logo.

In a 650-square-foot storefront on Catawba Avenue across from the Cain Center for the Arts, customers will find both traditional extra virgin olive oils and a variety of infused flavors, including garlic, lemon, blood orange, rosemary, basil and butter. The store also carries flavored balsamic vinegars ranging from blueberry and strawberry to white balsamic, rosé and seasonal offerings.

The shop sources its oils through a distributor that partners with small family-owned producers in countries including Spain and Portugal, while its balsamic vinegars come from Italy. The oils are lab-tested for quality before shipment, and Lekovic takes additional steps to preserve freshness after they arrive by storing them in sealed containers and using nitrogen to minimize oxidation.

Freshness, she said, is one of the biggest differences between specialty olive oil and many grocery store products.

“I just want people to come in, taste the products and see the difference,” she said. “Once they try them, they will understand.”

Lekovic encourages customers to experiment with pairings, such as lemon olive oil on fish or white balsamic in homemade vinaigrettes.

Beyond retail sales, she hopes Pure Olive becomes a gathering place for home cooks. Plans include tasting events, cooking demonstrations, sourdough workshops and classes led by local chefs using the store’s products, as well as a collaboration with the new Starlight Bakery that opened last week on Catawba Avenue.

The shop also features locally made cutting boards, honey and beef tallow, as well as her oldest daughter’s hand-crafted candles, reflecting Lekovic’s desire to support other small businesses.

Pure Olive joins a growing list of new businesses opening in downtown Cornelius this year, adding another specialty retailer to the district’s expanding mix of locally owned shops.